Christian artist Kirk Franklin declared that God allows people to go through difficult circumstances as a process to make them part of His kingdom.
Speaking to The Christian Post, Franklin shared his views about the issue during the promotion of the "Lean On Me" remake, featuring The Compassion Youth Choir. The song reportedly became a hit in 1998 and was nominated for "Song of the Year" at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards.
The project was a collaboration with Compassion International (CI).
"It is really overwhelming to be able to pull out a song that's over two decades [old] and see it be able to have an impact and to be able to remind each other of the bigger message, that we're the hands and feet of God, and in very tangible ways," he stated.
The artist continued by discussing about brokenness, which he said should not be regarded as a "bad thing" since "even in the darkest times," God "can be doing His greatest Work."
"We have this misconception that God is trying to make us happy. God is not trying to make us happy. God is trying to make us His. And so whatever process comes from that. Once again, I know that sounds foolish to the world. It sounds foolish to humanism. And our natural intelligence doesn't have the capacity to access and program the spiritual. And again, things of the spiritual a lot of times have been abused and manipulated," he explained.
He noted that in the Western culture, Americans take pride in being a kind of people that are "strong and not easily broken." But Franklin argued that "gold doesn't become pure until it's taken through the fire."
"Ask God, 'What are you doing with this?' 'Are you using this?' Because sometimes, you're in a situation that doesn't seem to be getting better. Maybe it's because God may not want it to get better," he added.
Franklin pointed out that Christians should not only talk about Jesus but also translate it in "tangible ways" by helping people.
Further, he said that with a lot of issues in the world, people should be humble and be concerned about others too, not just with their own needs.
The project was created after the artist visited Dominican Republic last year and felt called by God to share his talents and inspire the youth around the world.
The choir is composed of more than 120 young people who were selected through virtual auditions from 25 countries where CI ministers. He initially thought of choosing a winner from every country but moved with the video submissions, he ended up taking everyone who auditioned in the project.
Franklin is a "natural musician" from Fort Worth, Texas. At just seven years old, he was already offered a contract but his aunt, who raised him, turned it down. He was only 11 years old when he led a Baptist church adult choir. He rebelled during his teenage years. But after his close friend died, he returned to the church and started studying music.
He went on to become one of the most successful contemporary Christian artists since the early 1990s until today.
